The invention disclosed herein relates to semiconductor devices, and more particularly, to semiconductor devices including a resistive memory element.
Semiconductor devices may be classified into memory devices for storing data and logic devices for processing data. The memory devices may be classified into volatile memory devices and nonvolatile memory devices. A volatile memory device loses stored data when a power supply is stopped. For example, a dynamic random access memory (DRAM) device and a static random access memory (SRAM) device may be representative of volatile memory devices. A nonvolatile memory device may retain stored data even if the power supply is stopped. For example, a flash memory device may be representative of a nonvolatile memory device.
As a semiconductors become more highly developed, various characteristics with respect to the semiconductor device may become more desirable. For example, characteristics corresponding to multi-function, high-speed operation, high integration, stability against the external environment, low unit cost and/or low power consumption of the semiconductor device may become increasingly important. However, since such characteristics may be competing regarding one another, it may be difficult to satisfy the various characteristics of the semiconductor device. Thus, additional research for new semiconductor devices capable of satisfying the various characteristics may be beneficial.